Just Drive
by UnfortunatelySux
Summary: Michael and Jeremy basically go on a mini road trip just for an FYE and its super gay
1. Chapter 1

"I wanna go somewhere.", Michael looked over to where Jeremy was sitting. The scrawny boy was looking back at him expectantly, hands fidgeting with unresolved energy.

"What?" Michael muttered back in question. He had been lounging on his bed, lazily scrolling through whatever social media sites he had on his phone when Jeremy had suddenly disrupted the comfortable blanket of silence.

Jeremy smiled excitedly, "Lets go do something! We could go to the mall and get some chili fries, or we could just, like, go find some abandoned building and see if it's haunted. I just want to go out." He bounced in his seat, unable to sit still.

Michael mulled it over silently, he probably had enough gas money to go wherever they wanted and not end up stranded, and it's not like he really had any other plans for the two of them. He had figured that they would just play video games or watch dumb reality shows or something, since that's what they usually ended up doing when they were together. Perhaps a change of pace will be fun.

"Yeah, sure, maybe we can pick up a new game to play tonight." He nodded, thinking through all of the nearby places that could have been of potential interest.  
Jeremy cheered, hopping up to go get dressed. Michael quickly began the search for his wallet and keys as he pondered where they should go. He grumbles to himself as he thinks about the how they had recently closed down the FYE in their local mall. That had been the only store he tended to visit willingly, and it was also where he usually got most  
of his movies. He did a quick search on google maps on his phone to see if they had another location nearby, and found that the nearest one seemed to be in some mall that was three hours away.

Jeremy scampered back into the room as Michael was shoving his wallet into his hoodie pocket. After ten minutes of rummaging around his cluttered belongings, he had finally found it on top of his dresser, behind some empty water bottles that he couldn't be bothered to throw away.

"So, where are we going?" Jeremy asked, rocking idly on the balls of his feet in anticipation. Michael felt a small smile tug at his lips at the other boys constant fidgeting. Michael knew that occasionally there would be random days where Jeremy seemed to be bursting with energy. Those were the days where Jeremy would be overwhelmed by the urge to adventure. He would always want to go somewhere new, which he generally did through Michael. Despite being half way through their senior year, Jeremy still had yet to learn to drive, let alone acquire a license, which meant that if he wanted to go anywhere he would generally beg Michael until he drove him wherever he wanted to go. Truthfully, Michael didn't mind in the slightest. He enjoyed any time he spent with his boyfriend, even if it's spent with him driving to the next town over in the dead of night just because Jeremy couldn't sleep and wanted to go get frozen yogurt.

"Well," Michael started, huffing as he shuffled through the clutter on his bookshelf in search of his keys, "apparently there's some mall a couple hours away with an FYE, you up for that?"

"Definitely, dude. I have your keys, they were on the bathroom counter, you should really keep up with these, man. You literally always loose them." He smirked, tossing the keys to the other boy.

"Shut up, nerd, at least I can actually drive. Let's go." Michael grumbled, despite feeling his face heat slightly at the thought of how domestic this all felt.

Jeremy smiled back smugly, sauntering out of the room. "Don't forget your phone, Honey Bunches o' Oats." He called over his shoulder, his voice bubbling with laughter.

"Wow Jeremy, that's pretty gay, bro." Michael called back, swiftly stuffing his phone in his pocket with his wallet. He made sure to grab his headphones as he left the room, pulling them on around his neck.

Jeremy snorted, "Only for you, bro. No homo tho."  
-

Michael swiftly pulled the drivers side door of his PT cruiser open, tossing his backpack and headphones into the back before sliding into the seat, yanking the door closed behind him. After a bit of bickering in the kitchen, Jeremy had managed to convince Michael to bring drinks and snacks for later, just in case. Michael shoved his keys into the ignition, turning it so that the air con and radio started up, but not quite starting the car yet. He pulled out his phone, typing the malls address into google maps and setting their route. He tossed the device to Jeremy, starting up the car.

It had become a sort of ritual between the two, Michael would drive Jeremy wherever he wanted to go, and Jeremy would lounge in the passenger seat while muttering out directions from one of their phones. Michael began pulling out of the driveway and Jeremy fiddled with the radio, cranking up the volume as he selected a song from one of the various CD's currently in the player.

Michaels car was pretty old, which meant he didn't have an aux cord, but he did have a CD player that held six CDs at a time, so it kind of made up for it. The only thing was, it tended to limit the variety of songs they could listen too, and they had to buy actual albums if they wanted more music. They usually listened to a couple of old Bob Marley CDs that Michael has had for years, occasionally mixing it up with a variety of random albums that Jeremy had given him over time. Sometimes he would show up with albums that he bought mostly as a joke, like the Hawaiian wedding music and the 'Spooky Noises' album. They never listened to them, of course, but Michael kept them regardless. He had a special stash of Jeremy's albums stored in the cars console.

Michael was pulled from his thoughts as Jeremy starts spouting out the directions as the appeared on the phone. They chattered to each other idly as they wove through weird back roads, eventually ending up on a weird mini highway that felt like it was taking them to the middle of nowhere.

"Now just go straight for a while." Jeremy said, clicking the phone off temporarily. Michael assumes that 'a while' probably meant more than 30 minutes, because Jeremy just turned up the volume of the radio so that they could sing along with the music to pass time.

Michael had discovered fairly early on that Jeremy's method of directing him generally meant that he would tell him what he needed to do, when he needed to do it. He didn't really like to give much unnecessary warning like the app did, he usually would just call out 'you need to turn at the next left' or 'you should probably get into the other lane because you need to go right at the turn after this one'. Actually, Michael is kind of surprised at how well it usually works, it was amazingly easy to follow the directions that Jeremy gave him, and he secretly loved how well they worked together when it came to driving. Growing up, Michael's parents had always ended up fighting when they took road trips or vacations, so when Michael thinks about how him and the other teen cooperate so well it makes his heart swell with affection.

Michael continued singing idly to the music, his thoughts drifting as he zoned out. Michaels mind would often begin to wander when they were on freeways or highways and he didn't have to worry about turning or stopping at lights and stop signs.

Michael lets his mind drift to the boy sitting beside him, and the relationship between them. Michael and Jeremy had begun officially dating not long after the SQUIPcident. Jeremy had realised that what he had felt towards Christine was admiration, rather than romantic attraction, so they ended up agreeing to just remain friends. The lanky boy had ended up agreeing to date his best friend a couple weeks after that.

Michael thinks about how they had ended up getting together. There hadn't been any dramatic confessions of their undying love for each other like you see in movies and books. It had, honestly, been much like one of their usual exchanges. He remembers that events that had taken place before then, events that ultimately ended up leading to them getting together.––

After his only friend had begun ignoring him for no apparent reason, Michael had started to become emotionally overwhelmed, he no longer had his other half to vent to when he was upset, which inevitably lead to him struggling to keep it together on his own.  
In an attempt to help himself when he was feeling especially upset, Michael began writing letters to Jeremy. He never intended to give the letters to the other boy, he wasn't even really writing them to the real Jeremy, it was more like a cheap attempt at a substitute for how he used to always be able to turn to his friend for the support he needed when he was having trouble.

Michael had reached a point where he would write letters every day. He would write about what he had been up too in the time since he had last seen Jeremy, usually when class was boring and he didn't feel like paying attention, he would write out how angry and sad and lonely he was whenever a day was particularly bad. On the days when he felt especially alone, he would write about how much he missed his other half. He would write out how much he cares about the other boy and how he felt about him, he would lament on how he regretted not telling him how much he really meant to him while he had the chance.

One day in particular, Michael had been feeling especially rough. He had been tripped while walking in the hallway, causing his binder to spill everywhere as the onlookers laughed at him for falling. Then when he opened his locker he had been presented with a pile of harsh notes that had been shoved through the slots on the door. The notes had been mostly threats and slurs, and the teachers did nothing the help when Michael had been cornered and beaten up in the hallway after lunch.

He remembers how he had passed out from one of the blows that had managed to knock his head against the linoleum floor especially hard, and how he woke up half way through the class period, limply dragging himself to his economics class, only to receive a detention for being late. No one said anything about the drying blood from his nose and the bruises blossoming on his skin.

He felt more alone that day than he had in years. It was then that he wrote a particularly emotional letter, in which he poured out his heart and confessed how he was probably in love with Jeremy, and how he missed him more than anything. Michael had written the letter in Tagalog, as he often did with the more sensitive ones (just in case someone managed to get their hands on them) and then he folded it up and shoved it into an old shoebox that had contained some of Jeremy's things that had been left behind at Michaels house over the years.

Michael had forgotten about the note by the time the Halloween party rolled around. After the night, he stopped writing the letters.

Michael began to give up hope that Jeremy and him would ever regain their old relationship. Michael had started trying to get rid of any reminders he had of the other boy, which is why he drove to Jeremy's house at 4 a.m. in order to leave the shoebox of stuff outside of Jeremy's front door. Not like he was gonna be needing and of Jeremy's stuff at his place anytime soon.

Fast forward too not long after everything when down at the play, and they had finally been able to go back to normal. One night had Jeremy suddenly sent him a text about the letter that had been forgotten in the shoebox.

J: 'hey dude I've been meaning to ask,,, what's up with this note that you gave me? I mean,, I can't really read it but I guess I could like google translate it or somethin'

Michael felt his heart seize as he reread the lines of text. He never meant for Jeremy to see any of the notes, let alone the one that had the biggest probability of screwing up their relationship again.

M: 'ah, that wasn't meant 4 u, it was just smthn I wrote ages ago, don't even bother translating it, haha'

The boy desperately hoped that Jeremy would just drop the subject and succumb to his laziness.

J: "mm"

Michael felt uneasy.


	2. Chapter 2

Michael shifted around, becoming even more entangled in his bed sheets. He felt mortified that he had forgotten to take out that stupid letter. He had only just gotten Jeremy back, he couldn't stomach the thought of something as trivial as his dumb crush putting another divide between them.

His mind raced and he started to panic, he felt his throat tighten as the familiar empty tingling feelings of dread took over his chest, spreading all the way down his arms to the tips of his fingers. Should he text Jeremy about it more? Or would that be suspicious? What if Jeremy does translate it, there's nothing he could say to excuse the things he wrote on that paper. No amount of 'No Homos' could save him from this one.

God, he hates emotions.

Michael feels himself start to blink harder than necessary, he feels his breathing become ragged and choppy, and he began involuntarily scrunching up his nose every time time one of the too hard blinks happened. They were tics that he knew he tended to display when he was feeling overwhelmed or too anxious. He takes a deep breath as he pulls off his glasses and tosses them aside carelessly as he squeezes his eyes shut and runs his hands over his face. He rubs at his eyes and nose, trying to rid them of the persistent itchy tickle that came from the facial tics. He hates when this happens, it's like when you become aware of your blinking or breathing, like he was suddenly hyper aware every movement his face made.

Michael squeezes his eyes shut, scrunches up his nose as hard as he could, and takes in a deep breath before holding it. He held it for a couple seconds before relaxing his face, breathing out heavily. He's being ridiculous, getting so worked up over this. It was just Jeremy. His Jeremy. He wasn't being controlled by that god awful computer anymore, he was back to being the same clumsy dork that Michael was best friends with. The same boy that happily told him that he was his favourite person, the boy who would never ever leave him. The boy that Michael had fallen irrevocably in love with.

He sighs deeply again, feeling some of the tension drain from his body. He would be fine, he was just going to not worry about it unless it becomes an issue. Let things run their course, go with the flow, y'know? Michael forced the thought out of his mind, compartmentalization was a wonderful thing, and he felt his anxieties wash away smoothly, leaving nothing but the familiar feeling of obliviousness wash over him. He was fine.

-

It wasn't until many hours later that something actually happened. Michael had been woken up by the feeling of his phone vibrations with notifications under him. He must've accidentally fallen asleep at some point, he thinks, considering he had no idea where his glasses were and his phone had been stuck between his body and the bed, rather than shoved under his pillow and plugged into the charger.

His hand scrambles around, blindly digging in the covers tangled around him in search of the offending cellular device. He clicked it on, squinting at the sudden brightness, eyes immediately landing on the time. Ugh, he had been asleep for five hours, and it was now well into the night. His eyes drifted down to the notifications which he woken him. It was two texts, both from Jeremy.

Michael unlocks his phone, rolling over onto his stomach so that he could prop himself up on his elbows. As he read the messages, Michael felt an icy spike shoot through him, making the tips of his fingers tingle and his palms itch.

J: 'so,, I just finished translating that letter.'

J: 'the fine print says ur gay'

shit.

M: 'aaaaaaagghhh'

M: ' I was trying to get you to not read thattg'

M: 'aaaahhh'

Michael groaned and flopped down to press his face into his pillow.

Great, now what was gonna happen between them? Just his luck, already about to make things between them awkward, immediately after he finally got him back. His phone buzzed in his hand again and he reluctantly lifted his face from his pillow.

J: 'it's ok tho, bc, like,, it turns out the fine print says I'm pretty gay 2'

Michael froze, blinking rapidly as if he had simply imagined the words he was reading.

J: 'I mean,, if u iguana, we could try to date'

What the fuck. What the Fuck?

M: 'uh,, yeah, that sounds great, sure, lets do that then'

There's no way this is actually happening. Like, there's just actually physically no way that it could be this simple? One text and now suddenly Michael is dating his best friend, who he just so happens to have had a crush on for the better part of five years.

Michael knows he should be ecstatic, he somehow had just managed to become the boyfriend of Jeremy Heere, something he's wanted for so long. He should be shouting or screaming or crying out of happiness or something. But he doesn't. In that moment, as it was starting to sink in, all Michael felt was an overwhelming feeling of contentment. He felt his face slip into a big, dopey grin, as his cheeks heated and his chest felt warm.

It was a really lame way to get together, through stupid bumbling texts and dumb puns, but somehow Michael felt that it was fitting. It was them. Because no matter what, they were still best friends before anything else. Michael knew that even if this whole dating thing didn't work out In the end, they would still be there for each other. Michael decides to be happy about it some other time, because for now, he was just going to be content.

He felt calm and cool and chill as he continues exchanging dumb texts with Jeremy just like the usually did.

-

Michael is brought back to the present by the feeling of something bouncing off of his cheek. He whips his head to look at Jeremy, eyes narrowing in accusation. He made eye contact with his boyfriend for a second, before he had to rip his gaze back to the road ahead of them.

Jeremy was failing to suppress the smile that was pulling at his lips as he looked at Michael. He had been staring at Michael for the past two minutes, watching how his face would twitch in response to whatever he had been thinking so hard about.

It was times like this, when Michael was a million miles away, that Jeremy liked to let his eyes roam across the other boys face, to really admire and appreciate the person in front of him.

Jeremy ripped off another piece of the napkin he had found in the floorboard and rolled it up, smirking impishly as he flicked it at Michael, hitting him in the temple lightly.

Michael huffed as he felt the second projectile bounce off of his temple.

"Stop it, you egg. What do you want? I'm kinda busy here." Michael says, casting another sideways glance at Jeremy before gluing his eyes to the road once more. Jeremy snorted as he unbuckled his seatbelt.

"Just making sure you're alive, dude. Pretty sure you haven't blinked in, like, five minutes." Jeremy states as he twists around in his seat, half crawling into the back so that he could grab Michaels backpack.

Michael hummed in response, shifting in his seat uncomfortably. Jeremy settles back into his original position as he pulls Michaels backpack into his lap. He unzips it swiftly,shuffling through the contents in search of something.

"The fuck are you looking for?" Michael inquires as Jeremy removed the various snacks that they had brought, throwing loose bags of chips and candy bars into the back seat with Michael's headphones.

Jeremy hums as he sifts through the assorted clutter, eyebrows furrowed in concentration.

"I bought a bangin' new CD to listen too, and I know I slipped it in here before we left but you have so much random shit in this thing-"

"Hey, I'll have you know that one day you're gonna appreciate all of that random shit when the world ends and we have to survive in the post apocalyptic lands." Michael proclaimed assuredly. Jeremy snorted out a laugh, before exclaiming in excitement.

"Ah! I found it, yes! Check this out, Dude." Michael flicked his eyes over to Jeremy quickly, immediately locking on the small CD case that he was presenting to him proudly.

"Oh my fucking God." Michael choked in surprise, "Jeremy, is that-"

"Brittney's Greatest Hits!" Jeremy yelled, his voice cracking slightly on the 'hits' out of excitement. "Hell yeah!"

Michael laughed loudly at how excited his boyfriend was over a goddamn Brittney Spears CD. "You absolute dork." he muttered fondly.

"Dude, look, we may be boyfriends, but you better believe that I am, 100%, Brittney's bitch." Jeremy replied confidently as he snapped open the plastic case.

Michael scoffed and shook his head, a wide grin plastered across his face. He didn't stop the lanky boy from inserting the disk into the player.

Michael was, by no means, a Brittney Spears fan. He only knew about two songs by her and he didn't particularly care for them, but he was willing to sit through a couple subpar songs if it meant he got to see Jeremy as happy as he was.

"I hope you're ready to be serenaded, bitch," Jeremy stated determinedly, "because I'm about to turn the FUCK up, dog."

Michael barked out another laugh at that, already knowing what was coming. Whenever Jeremy especially liked a song, he tended to put his whole soul into belting it out, and usually directly into Michael's face. Which was, actually, not at all as unpleasant as one would expect. Despite his tendency to stutter and how often his voice cracks, Jeremy had an amazing singing voice. Michael often thought to himself that he could listen to Jeremy sing all day and it would never get old.

The electronic best started up, and Jeremy angled his body in his seat so that he was facing more towards Michael as he seamlessly joined in with Brittney's voice.

"Mmm~ Baby, can't you see," Jeremy rasped lowly, bobbing his head to the beat.

"I'm fallin~

A guy like you,

Should wear a warnin~"

He began putting his whole body into it, adoptive a seductive expression with hooded eyes and his head tilted up slightly, as he leaned towards Michael, reaching over to lightly run his hand down the half Filipinos jaw as he continued.

"It Dangerous-,

I'm Fallin~" Jeremy's hand ghosted down Michael's neck stopping to rest lightly on his swallows thickly and starts to sweat, his heart rate increasing

" There's no escape,

I can't wait,

I need a hit

Baby, give me it~

You're dangerous

I'm lovin' it," Jeremy pulled back, leaning back in his seat as he began moving his body to the beat.

"Too high

Can't come down

Losing my head

Spinning 'round and 'round

Do you feel me now?"

Michael couldn't help but stop to wonder how Jeremy could physically manage to pull off those high ass notes.

"With a taste of your lips I'm on a ride

You're toxic, I'm slipping under," Jeremy belted passionately, leaning towards Michael again.

With a taste of a poison paradise

I'm addicted to you

Don't you know that you're toxic-"

Jeremy lowered his volume as he moved his face closer to Michael's until he was only about 6 inches away. Michael feels the blush blooming across his cheeks and his breathing hitches.

"And I love what you do

Don't you know that you're toxic-"

Jeremy swooped in and kissed Michael's cheek quickly, before pulling back completely and resuming the song as if he had never even moved.

Fuck. Michael takes a deep breath, exhaling slowly in an attempt to calm his racing heart and put out the fire in his face.

Goddamnit.

This was gonna be a long drive. Michael ponders the probability of then getting into a car crash if things kept going the way they were currently.

He concludes that the odds are roughly 75/25 in favour of them dying before the day ends.


End file.
